At every roll call, Memphis police officers are being warned to watch out for anyone who might want to retaliate for the deaths of two suspects shot and killed in West Memphis last week after they allegedly killed two police officers. Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin said Saturday that the department has not received specific threats but wants officers to be on alert.
"We don't have a lot of information on these two," Godwin said, referring to the two suspects, whose identities were confirmed late Friday by the Arkansas State Police as Jerry R. Kane Jr., 45, and Joseph T. Kane, 16. "But if they are tied to an extremist group there is always the possibility of someone retaliating.
"I'm not trying to scare anybody, but I'm trying to make sure my guys are on their toes, that they're ready."
The memo from Deputy Chief Gerald Blum reads, in part: "Reported information indicates the individuals responsible for the shooting are associated with a violent extremist group. Considering this information, the possibility of retaliatory assaults on officers or police facilities does exist."
Coincidentally, the sheriff in Clark County, Ohio, issued a similar warning to his officers in 2004 — specifically aimed at Jerry Kane.
Sheriff Gene Kelly issued the warning after encountering Kane, whom he described as a short-fused man who was "anti-authority, anti-rules."
"(He) just had this air about him that you knew some police officer was going to pull him over for a violation of a fishing license, and there would be some sort of confrontation. ... I'm disheartened, shocked, dismayed. You always hope it would never come to this."
Jerry Kane traveled the country with his son, giving seminars on what he called "mortgage fraud." He offered advice on foreclosure strategies. A website promoting his business contains rhetoric that experts say is associated with anti-government groups.
Kelly said he encountered Kane when he came to the sheriff's office to complain about a judge who had sentenced him to community service for a traffic offense.
Kane was confrontational from the start, Kelly said, describing him as "ready to explode." Kane called himself a "free man" and said he did not need a driver's license or to wear his seatbelt.
"He didn't cross the line or threaten to do bodily harm to the judge, but he was at the line the entire time," Kelly said.
Kane brought with him to the meeting his then-9-year-old son Joseph, who carried an authentic-looking toy gun. The elder Kane told the sheriff that the boy carried it with him at all times and then told his son to recite sections of the U.S. Constitution.
"He was 9, but he was way beyond his years," Kelly said. "He could spew out anything his father had told him. He had certainly been schooled in the same kind of issues. I tried to talk to him about the dangers of carrying a toy gun, that it could be mistaken for a real gun."
The younger Kane responded that it wasn't a real weapon and that it was his right to carry it, Kelly said.
"He certainly is his father's image there."
